June 20, 1984: Apologetic Bulls 'stuck' with Michael Jordan

Note: This article originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune on June 20, 1984

The Chicago Bulls send their regrets. They ask forgiveness. Please understand. They really wanted to do better in the draft than the best college basketball player in America, but they couldn't.

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They got stuck with Michael Jordan of North Carolina, maybe the greatest natural basketball talent, inch for inch, in this young decade. Nothing they could do. They want you to know that.

They tried to avoid Jordan, tried hard. But nobody wanted to trade with them, swap some big fossil of a center for the third pick in the draft. It was like they were under quarantine or something. So, they were forced to do the intelligent thing Tuesday.

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They had to take Jordan, even though he is already famous, has had quality coaching, is not a social disgrace and may likely become the next Julius Erving before the old one is in the Hall of Fame.

"He's only 6-5," said Thorn, who must use a different yardstick than Dean Smith, the Carolina coach. Down where the tobacco grows, Jordan has always been 6-6, not that one inch ever stopped Jordan from crashing the boards, hitting from the outside or playing substantially above sea level. By the time he gets to Chicago, or when negotiations for his wages get sticky, Jordan may be the size of a jockey. The Bulls aren't even sure where to play Jordan. "Big guard, small forward," said coach Kevin Loughery. Decisions, decisions.

The Bulls will have to do something with guard Quintin Dailey now, just when he has become an asset instead of an embarrassment. Forward David Greenwood, a free agent, is shopping himself to the New York Knicks. Dave Corzine can't be effective without relief at center, maybe not even then.

As good as Jordan is, he won't solve these problems.

"When you win only 55 games in two years," said Thorn, "you don't get well all at once. Look, when Isiah Thomas went to Detroit, he improved them but it took two years to make the playoffs.We've taken a step in the right direction. Jordan isn't going to turn this franchise around. I wouldn't ask him to. I wouldn't put that kind of pressure on him."

The patient Bulls' faithful will. There were as many civilians in the Conrad Hilton ballroom watching the draft on television as there have been at some Bulls games. Anticipation will draw a bigger crowd than reality. After the selection of centers Hakeem Olajuwon by Houston and Sam Bowie by Portland, there was a suspicious delay as the Bulls prepared for their turn. Would the Bulls be stupid again? The crowd began chanting "Jordan! Jordan!" loudly enough for the Bulls' management to hear two floors above, not that anyone was listening.

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After all, Jordan was player of the year only two of the three seasons he was an undergraduate, which proves he isn't perfect, a condition with which the Bulls are intimate. The season Jordan wasn't player of the year, he hit the shot that gave his college team the national championship, but the Bulls can overlook that.

"If we had our choice between Bowie and Jordan," said Thorn, "we would still have taken Jordan. But Olajuwon was the big prize."

Jordan has something going for him neither Olajuwon nor Bowie have. He will probably be the star of the U.S. Olympic team this summer, because he clearly is the best player on it. The Olympics should elevate him even beyond his present celebrity status into a patriotic treasure, giving the Bulls an instant box-office attraction, not that being one was enough to save Reggie Theus from exile.

"The Olympics are a bonus," said Thorn. "People will watch the Olympics who don't normally watch pro basketball. Jordan will be as visible as any basketball player in America, college or pro, but that isn't why we chose him.

"We picked him because you can't pass up a great player. If we were a great team, we could have drafted for need. We need a center; we're going to have to get one. There just wasn't one there."

Poor Bulls. When a team is so bad getting the player of the year won't fix it, sympathy surrenders to pity.